Moving cellular communication system

ABSTRACT

A cellular system comprising at least one moving non-stationary base station for enabling cellular communication between at least two mobile stations in a geographic area that lacks adequate cellular coverage by at least one stationary base station.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to moving cellular communication systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The ever increasing popularity of cellular communication has led todramatic improvements in cellular infrastructure deployment in urbanareas as well as on highways in rural environments in many countriesover the globe. The introduction of the cellular 3G standard and thenewer 4G standard has further encouraged significant investments forimproving cellular coverage in such areas.

Cellular communication offers a versatile type of communication that ischaracterized by at least:

-   (a) communication at a variable distance sub-range that falls in the    range of sub-meter (e.g. femto-cells) to more than 10 Km (e.g.    macro-cells);-   (b) communication of desired application including at least one of    audio, video and data;-   (c) communication in a variety of environments including at least    one of urban, sub-urban and rural areas,    all using basically the same cellular mobile stations (e.g. cellular    telephones, smart-phones or tablets).

However, the vast majority of the cellular infrastructures is of astationary nature, namely utilization of stationary core segments andbase stations. Whilst the efficient deployment of stationaryinfrastructure affords efficient cellular communication in many denselypopulated areas, it falls short in providing the same quality of service(or even any cellular coverage) in areas that lack adequate cellularinfrastructure or are devoid of any infrastructure.

In addition, even geographical areas that have appropriate cellularcoverage may be susceptible to degraded performance or even totalcollapse of cellular communication coverage, for instance resulting fromnatural disasters, for example such as when a hurricane stormsignificantly damages the stationary stations or cores.

This may not only adversely affect the ability of the population in thedisaster area to contact each other, but also may hinder rescue effortsheld by rescue forces such as the police, firemen and medical emergencyforces who may require efficient cellular communication extremely usefulfor fulfilling their designated rescue tasks.

As an alternative to lack of cellular communication infra-structure, andconsidering for example a rescue task (e.g. extinguishing a fire spreadover a large area), the rescue team may be required to employ varioustypes of wireless communication devices, some of which are designatedfor short range communication (e.g. between firemen that are close toeach other), others adapted for long range communication (e.g. between afireman communicating with a pilot for directing an airplane carryingfire extinguishing substances towards a desired area). Certain devicesare operable in rural environments but their functionality is adverselyaffected in urban environments. Some devices are adapted for voiceapplication but cannot communicate video or data.

There is thus a need to provide a cellular system that employsnon-stationary base station(s) utilizable in a geographical area thatlacks adequate coverage for facilitating versatile communication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided acellular system comprising at least one moving non-stationary basestation for enabling cellular communication between at least two mobilestations in a geographic area that lacks adequate cellular coverage byat least one stationary base station.

In accordance with certain embodiments, there is further provided atleast one stationary base station.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, there isfurther provided at least one non stationary core segment.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said nonstationary core segment being a simulated stationary network.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said nonstationary base station being a moving relay.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, there isfurther provided at least one stationary core segment and stationarybase station.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention there is furtherprovided support of dynamic topology in terms of at least variablenumber of non stationary base stations and number of mobile stations.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said dynamictopology includes multi-layer Hierarchical dynamic cellular network.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, the system isoperable in an adaptable network coverage mode for adequately supportinga static or dynamic deployment of cellular mobile stations.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said adaptablenetwork coverage includes change of assignment of cellular mobilestations between non-stationary base stations.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said adaptablenetwork coverage includes change of location of at least onenon-stationary base station.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said adaptablenetwork coverage includes change of transmission or receptioncharacteristics of said non-stationary bases stations.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, saidtransmission or reception characteristics are selected from a groupincludes antenna type, antenna pointing, antenna beam-width andtransmission power.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, the system isoperable in 3G standard.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, the system isoperable in 4G standard.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, the system isoperable in WiMax standard.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, the system isoperable in areas of disaster where existing stationary cellularinfrastructure malfunction.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said cellularcommunication is characterized by

-   -   i) communication between at least two mobile stations at a        variable distance that falls in the range of sub-meter to more        than 10 Km;    -   ii) communication of desired application including at least one        of audio, video, messaging and data.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said cellularcommunication is further characterized by

-   -   iii) communication in an environment including at least one of        urban, sub-urban, rural. maritime and aerial.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said nonstationary moving base station is carried by moving autonomous platformfrom a group that includes ground robot, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)or unmanned seaborne vessel.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided amobile station equipped with ICM and carry-able by a platform, in acellular system comprising at least one moving non-stationary basestation for enabling cellular communication between at least two mobilestations in a geographic area that lacks adequate cellular coverage byat least one stationary base station.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said cellularsystem further including at least one stationary base station.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided amobile station equipped with SM and carry-able by a platform, in acellular system comprising at least one moving non-stationary basestation for enabling cellular communication between at least two mobilestations in a geographic area that lacks adequate cellular coverage byat least one stationary base station.

In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, said cellularsystem further including at least one stationary base station.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a nonstationary base station equipped with ICM, in a cellular systemcomprising at least one moving non-stationary base station for enablingcellular communication between at least two mobile stations in ageographic area that lacks adequate cellular coverage by at least onestationary base station.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided a nonstationary core segment equipped with SM, in a cellular systemcomprising at least one moving non-stationary base station for enablingcellular communication between at least two mobile stations in ageographic area that lacks adequate cellular coverage by at least onestationary base station.

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided acellular system comprising at least two moving non-stationary basestations for enabling cellular communication between at least two mobilestations in a geographic area that lacks adequate cellular coverage byat least one stationary base station.

A system according to any of the previous embodiments wherein thecellular system enables adaptable network coverage.

Furthermore, the adaptable network coverage can be one or more of thefollowing types: distributed, centralistic, partly distributed andpartially centralistic.

Furthermore, adaptation of the network coverage may be made autonomouslyby the moving non-stationary base station.

Furthermore, the system may be operable in WiFi standard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carriedout in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way ofnon-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1A-1B illustrate schematically generalized system architecture ofthe Moving Cellular Communication System, in accordance with certainembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically a generalized system architecture ofthe Moving Cellular Communication System that includes a stand-alonepart and also a stationary cellular communication system part, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically a generalized system architecture ofthe Moving Cellular Communication System that is connected to astationary cellular communication system part, in accordance withcertain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates schematically a scenario where a need to change thelocation of Moving Relay is apparent, in accordance with certainembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically an adaptable network coverage scenario,in accordance with certain other embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates schematically a flow chart of a sequence ofoperations for obtaining centralistic adaptable network coverage, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 7 illustrates schematically a flow chart of a sequence ofoperations for obtaining distributed adaptable network coverage, inaccordance with certain other embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 is an example of communication in normal mode in a multi-hopscenario and a single mobile station;

FIG. 9a is an example of two mobile stations communication in anemergency mode;

FIG. 9b is an example of two mobile stations communication in an afterundo emergency mode;

FIG. 9c is an example of three mobile stations communicating in anemergency mode in a multi-hop scenario; and

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of an example architecture for therelay resource manager (rRM) of MR.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1a illustrates a Moving Cellular Communication System that includes(for example) three Moving Relays (MR) 104 a, 104 b and 104 c thatserves two Mobile Stations (MSs) 106 a, 106 b and two Enhanced MobileStations (EMSs) 108 a, 108 b. Each one of the moving relays is capableof moving while serving each one of the MSs or EMSs, as will beelaborated below. In addition, two add-on modules can be optionallyconnected to each MR or MS and turn them into enhanced MR (EMR) orenhanced MS (EMS) respectively. The add-on modules types areInterference Cancellation Module (ICM) 112 and Security Module (SM) 110.The ICM role as described in more detail in co-pending PCT patentapplication no. PCT/IL2011/000468 filed on Jun. 13, 2011 entitled“System and Methods for Null Steering in a Multicarrier System” whosecontents is incorporated herein by reference is for interferencecancellation (whether intra-network or from out-of-network source). Theintra-network interference can be or include, for example, the mutualinterference between the relay Mobile Station (rRM) and the relay BaseStation (rBS), or between Mobile Stations located in adjacent cells orbetween Base Stations located in adjacent cells. The out-of-networkinterference can, for example, originate in an adjacent differentcellular system (e.g. at border areas) or by any other suitable wirelesssystem or source. The SM is added for upgraded security as described inmore detail in co-pending PCT patent application no. PCT/IL2011/000587filed on Jul. 21, 2011 entitled “Switched Application ProcessorApparatus for Cellular Devices” whose contents is incorporated herein byreference and in co-pending Israeli patent application filed Aug. 25,2011 by applicant entitled “Network Environment Separation” whosecontents is incorporated herein by reference. For example, the SM canenable higher security application processing (Application Processor 2)to be used by the MS as seen e.g. in FIG. 8 of PCT/IL2011/000587 whichdepicts MS architecture incorporating SM as add-on to it (referencedthere as 815). In addition, FIGS. 6 and 7 of PCT/IL2011/000587illustrate outgoing and incoming sequences that can be implemented byEMS or EMR when it has SM attached to it.

It should be noted that the proposed cellular system can have all typesand combinations of node, such as but not limited to: MS, MR, EMS, EMR.Each Enhanced node can have SM only or ICM only or any combination ofboth concurrently (i.e. 1 SM and 2 ICMs as in MR3 104 c or 1 SM and 1ICM as in MR2 104 b, etc.).

FIG. 1b shows a zoom-in schematic view of a EMR 115 (in the presentedexample is MR3 104 c and attached several add-on modules 112, 110) andalso of an EMS (in the presented example is 108 b). As can be seen, theMR consists of a base-station (rBS) 114 a relay resource manager (rRM)118 and a link to other base station 113, which is implemented in thepresented example as in-band backhauling using a local MS (rMS) 116 asdescribed in more detail in co-pending PCT publication no. WO2011/092698 published on Aug. 4, 2011 entitled “Cellular CommunicationSystem with Moving Base Stations and Methods and Apparatus Useful InConjunction Therewith” whose contents is incorporated herein byreference. It should be noted that the backhauling link to other basestation can be also implemented using any other technique, such as adedicated backhauling link (e.g. using satellite communication,3G/UMTS/HSPA, WiMAX, WiFi or microwave link). The add-on modules of theMR, SM 110 and two ICMs 112, are shown. Adding them (or part of them)turns the MR 104 c to EMR 115. The addition of the add-on modules isalso presented for the MS 106 which turns it to EMS 108 b. It should benoted that in accordance with certain embodiments, the SM 110 of the EMR115 can be interfaced to each of the MR components, e.g. to the rMS 116as described in FIG. 1a above or to the rRM 118 in order to enableaddition of higher security applications (e.g. IP Services 719 of FIG.10) as part of the Stand-Alone Subsystem that includes a moving coresegment). Note also that in accordance with certain embodiments the ICMis coupled to the output (e.g. Antenna) of MS (106) for achievingcancellation of ambient interferences (e.g. interfaces originated fromnear MR. near SeNB, near MS etc). Note that in accordance with certainembodiments, the outputs (e.g. Antennae) of rBS or rMS modules (114, 116respectively) are coupled with null steering module (e.g. ICM) forachieving cancelation of interferences originated from mutualinterferences of rBS and rMS, near MR. near SeNB, near MS etc forexample as depicts in PCT patent application no. PCT/IL2011/000468 filedon Jun. 13, 2011 entitled “System and Methods for Null Steering in aMulticarrier System” FIGS. 5a -5 b.

Turning now to FIG. 2, it presents a hybrid moving cellularcommunication system that includes a non-stationary (namely—moving) parthaving adaptive coverage and which includes MR1 104 a, MR2 104 b and MR3104 c. In addition to the non-stationary part, the presented systemincludes also a standard stationary part that consists of a static core130 and stationary base-stations 131, 132. It can be seen, in accordancewith certain embodiments the SM can be interfaced to the Core segmentsimilarly to the interface to the rRM described at the end of lastparagraph. The stationary part coverage area is further extended in adynamic way using MR4 104 d because MR4 104 d is non-stationary and canmove according to the needed coverage area defined by the location ofthe served MSs. In this figure, EMSs 108 c and 108 d are not located inthe stationary part coverage area and by using MR4 104 d they can beconnected to each other and to a MS that is served by the stationarypart, i.e. 106 c.

FIG. 3 illustrates the capability of a non-stationary (moving) cellularsystem (that includes MR1 104 a, MR2 104 b and MR3 104 c) to dynamicallyconnect to a stationary cellular system when a component of thenon-stationary network has moved to the coverage area of the stationarysystem. In the presented figure (for example), MR1 104 a has moved tothe coverage area of static BS3 133, then a link between MR1 104 a andBS3 133 is formed 120 b and any MS (or EMS) that is served by thenon-stationary cellular system (i.e. every MS or EMS that is served byMR1 104 a, MR2 104 b and MR3 104 c) can communicate with any MS or EMSthat is served by the stationary cellular system (e.g. MS 106 c) or anyMS or EMS that is served by any other non-stationary cellular systemthat is connected to the stationary cellular system (e.g. MS 108 c or108 d).

FIG. 4 displays a scenario in which a moving cellular system consists ofseveral MRs (MR1, MR2, MR3, MR4 and MR5) that serve EMSs, namely 434,434 and 436. MRs are used here as an example and some of them or all ofthem can be EMRs as well. MR1, which is in this example has a widecoverage area 420 (i.e. MR1 410 is mounted on-board airborne platform)is connected to EMS 436 and is also connected to MR5 430. The linkbetween MR1 410 and EMS 436 is of poor quality and therefore MR1 410 cannot support high data rate applications such as broadband data or video.In case EMS 436 needs such a high data rate application, this need isnoted by MR1 410, and the moving cellular system calculates a newposition of the MRs so that it can better serve the overall needs of allthe MSs/EMSs (e.g. according to priorities or as proportionally fair oras per any appropriate criteria). In this particular case, the systemcalculated and determined that to better serve the overall requirementMR5 430 needs to move in the direction 450 of EMS 436. The MRs and/orEMRs can be mounted on-board manned vehicles/platforms (such as but notlimited to trucks, vans, helicopter, boat) in which the person locatedin the platform can position the platform at a required location inorder to better serve the MSs and/or eMSs. In addition, the MRs and/orEMRs can be located on-board un-manned vehicles/platforms (such asUnmanned-Air-Vehicle, ground robot, un-manned sea-borne vessel, etc.) inwhich it can be positioned (autonomously or remote controlled by anoperator) at a desired location.

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically an adaptable network coverage scenario,in accordance with certain other embodiments of the invention; It can beseen that MR5 430 has now moved 450 to the new calculated location thatwas indicated in FIG. 4. Now EMS 436 is connected directly 444 to MR5430 and because of it is being closer it can support EMS 436 with higherdata rate applications. It can be seen, for example, that MR5 430 keepsthe connection 435 with its existing served EMS 434.

FIG. 6 illustrates schematically a flow chart of a sequence ofoperations for obtaining centralistic adaptable network coverage, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention. The first step610, which is optional, is a detection of new MSs/EMSs that can beserved by any of the MRs of the moving cellular communication system.The detection can be implemented for example by airborne MR that has awide coverage area and that can detect further MS s/EMS s that are notcovered or served by ground MRs. Optionally, an additional list of MSsand/or EMS can be entered manually or remotely. After adding the newdetected or manually/remotely entered MSs/EMSs to the list of theMSs/EMSs that needs to be served by the system, the next step 620 is toprovide to the non-stationary (moving) cellular system the estimatedlocation of one or more of the MSs/EMSs that it needs to serve. Inaccordance with certain embodiments, step 625 is implemented in which,in addition to location, any other information that needs to beconsidered can be provided to the non-stationary (moving) cellularsystem, such as but not limited to the required application for theMSs/EMSs, physical constraints of moving to a specific direction, thequality of service (such as signal-to-noise ratio, bit-error-rate,block-error-rate), the MS characteristics (such as but not limited toantenna performance and type and maximal transmitted power). Theestimated location can be obtained by the non-stationary cellularcommunication system (e.g. using the standard positioning capabilitiesof the cellular network as for example described in 3GPP releases) or byany external system that can provide the estimated location of theMSs/EMSs to the non-stationary cellular communication system. Thelocation can for example be obtained by the GPS location of each MS/EMStypically supports and sent to the cellular system. An additionaloptional method for estimation of the location of MSs/EMSs is by addingthe MRs/EMRs with means for estimation of location of MSs/EMSs, that canbe for example an antenna that can support estimation ofdirection-of-arrival of MSs/EMSs and by sharing that informationestimated location for part of the MSs/EMSs can be obtained. Any otherknown method for locating MSs/EMSs can be used by the system (such asdifferential-time-of-arrival—DTOA). The estimated location of part orall of the MSs/EMSs are sent to and stored in a central location. Such acentral location can be in example seen in FIG. 1 as one of the rRM 118in one of the a MR/EMR of the non-stationary cellular system. In thiscentral location a test or computation is then executed to identifywhether a change in the location of part or all the MRs/EMRs isrequired. If no change is required, as a result of this test 665, thenthe flow returns to the previous step 620. Otherwise, the next step isthe calculation of the new location of the part (or all) the MRs thattheir location needs to be changed 640. The identification step 630 andcalculation step 640 can be based on several criteria such as weightedsum of parameters such as the location of the MSs/EMSs, and anyabovementioned information or parameter that is provided to the system(i.e. quality of service). Alternatively a tracking method can be usedfor tracking a single of a group of MSs/EMSs by a single or group ofMRs/EMSs. The new calculated location of each MR that its location isneeds to be changed is then sent to it 650. Sending the new location canbe made using the non-stationary cellular system communication links orby any other external means (e.g. other wireless system, WiFi, satellitecommunications, other cellular system, microwave link, etc.). Then eachof the MRs/EMRs that needs to change their location move to the newlocation 660. Thereafter the flow returns 670 to step 620.

FIG. 7 illustrates schematically a flow chart of a sequence ofoperations for obtaining distributed adaptable network coverage, inaccordance with certain other embodiments of the invention. In thisdistributed manner each of the MRs/EMRs decides by its own the need tochange its location. This flow chart describes an example of analgorithm that is executed by the MR/EMR. Hereafter the discussedspecific MR/EMR that is referred will be called “current MR”. The firststep (optional) is a detection of new MSs/EMSs by the current MR 710.The next step is then to provide to the current MR the location of theMSs/EMSs that it needs to serve (and any additional information withregard to them that can be accounted for in the following steps) and thelocation of neighboring MRs/EMRs 720. The ways to provide the locationhave already been described in the description of FIG. 6. In accordancewith certain embodiments, step 725 is implemented in which, in additionto location, any other information that is to be considered can beprovided to the current non-stationary (moving) relay. Description ofsuch information is given in the description of FIG. 6. In addition,optionally, the MRs/EMRs share their relevant information (includinglocation information) with other MRs/EMRs. The location information (andadditional information) is then tested and computed to identify the needof change in the current MR 730. If no need of change is the result 765,then the flow returns to the previous step 720. Otherwise the flowproceeds to the calculation step 740. In the calculation step 740 thenew location of the MR/EMR is calculated (methods for calculations aredescribed in FIG. 6). Then the MR/EMR moves to the new location 750.Thereafter, optionally, the new location of the MR is sent to theneighboring MRs 760. And finally the flow returns 770 to step 720.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is provided a moving cellular communication system comprising atleast one moving relay including at least one base station functionalityand at least one mobile station functionality and a relay resourcemanager, all co-located, at least one stand-alone moving relay fromamong the moving relays further including a simulated stationary networkthat includes a simulated IP connectivity gateway operative tocommunicate with a simulated mobility management entity; the simulatedstationary network simulates the operation of a stationary network; thestand-alone moving relay being a root of a sub tree that includes atleast one moving relay and at least one mobile station, and isconfigured to utilizing its mobile station functionality, base stationfunctionality and radio manager for operating in at least the followingmodes of operations:

-   -   (i) normal mode of operation wherein the stand-alone moving        relay communicating with other relays in the network and with        the stationary network;    -   (ii) in response to an stand-alone event, operating in an        stand-alone mode of operation, including        -   a. communicating to a designated mobile station in the            sub-tree each message that was received from a moving relay            or a mobile station in the sub-tree and the message having            an IP address of the designated mobile station; or        -   b. communicating to the simulated stationary network each            message that was received from a moving relay or a mobile            station in the sub-tree and having an IP address that does            not match any mobile station in the sub-tree.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is further provided a system, wherein the simulatedstationary network further including simulated at least one applicationhaving respective application IP address, and wherein the operating inan stand-alone mode of operation, further including communicating to adesignated application in the simulated network each message that wasreceived from a moving relay or a mobile station in the sub-tree and themessage having an IP address of the designated application.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is further provided a system, wherein the simulatedstationary network further includes a simulated router.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is further provided a system, wherein the stand-aloneevent includes detecting disconnection of the stand-alone relay from thestationary network.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is further provided a system, further comprising, inresponse to undo stand-alone event, the stand-alone relay is configuredto revert to operate in accordance with the normal mode.

In order to address the challenges described above, we need to definearchitecture and methods to cope with the need to transfer control andtraffic information between each one of the mobile stations, through anyhierarchical cellular topology to any destination that can be a mobilestation in the same network or any destination outside the network. Inthe rest of the description we will present the solution for the 4G 3GPPcellular network, also known as LTE (Long Term Evolution), but the sameprinciples can be applied to any hierarchical cellular network (i.e.based on 3G standard).

In existing LTE cellular network each mobile station is identified byits own IP, a packet that is addressed to a mobile station is beingrouted through P\S-GW using a GTP tunnel to the base station and fromthere to the mobile station.

In a hierarchical cellular network as described in the specifiedapplications the packet is being routed through several tunnels andbeing routed to the destination mobile station.

The proposed invention is a mobile relay which is also capable ofproviding IP-based services in case of a stand-alone event. An exampleof a stand-alone event might be a disconnection from the core network.

Normally, in LTE cellular networks when a mobile station connects to thecore network, it gets a default bearer and an IP assignment. When amobile station requests a new service it gets an assignment of another,dedicated bearer. Each assigned bearer has specified QoS rules such asmaximal delay, packet loss rate, GBR and queuing priority. The bearersare mapped to tunnels where every user packet that flows in the cellularnetwork from the mobile station to the core and from the core to themobile station is mapped into a unique tunnel being scheduled by usingthe tunnels bearer assignment. In order to reflect bearer requests ofthe mobile station, the mobile station functionality of the moving relaygets bearer assignments that are corresponded to the ones of itsconnected mobile station.

FIG. 8 is another example of normal mode of operation for multi-hoprelaying scenario, where the two relays' base station functionalities[158,156] and the static base station [167] comprises a tunneltermination point; the corresponding tunnels are [160,153,154]. Thesetunnels typically transfer in the upstream direction mobile station[150] data that is sent to the relay's base station functionality [158]over the air-interface [162] to the core IP connectivity gateway/s. Inthe downstream these tunnels typically transfer data from the IPConnectivity gateway/s [166] to the relay's base station functionality[158] to be sent over the air interface [162] to the mobile station[150].

FIG. 9a is an example of an emergency moving relay operating inemergency mode. The backhauling radio link [180] between the movingrelay and the static base station [189] was disconnected; as a resultthe local relay radio manager (rRM) [193] addresses communication databeing designated to mobile stations [185,191] that are under the localrelay radio manager's sub tree using the simulated network e.g. StandAlone Subsystem as described herein.

The tunnel that was originally to be terminated at the core networkP/S-GW [187,188] (the tunnel that was connecting the static network coreP/S-GW [187],[188] to the relay's base station functionality (rBS)[196], whose tunnel header destination address was P/S-GW [187,188]) isterminated in the local simulated P/S-GW [183], e.g. its tunnel headerdestination address is set to P/S-GW[183]).

FIG. 9c is an example of communication in an emergency mode in amulti-hop scenario. The tunnel that was originally to be terminated atthe core network P/S-GW [187,188] is now terminated by the root of thedisconnected moving relay sub-tree that simulates the core network[224,225,226]. The second moving relay [239,240,241] and the anchoredmobile stations [239,234,242] are unaware of the emergency event.

FIG. 9b is an example of an undo emergency event. This undo emergencyevent may for example be initiated as a result of a connection beingmade between the relay mobile station functionality and one of: a staticbase station connected to static core or other relay base stationfunctionality having active simulated core (for example, a mobilestation functionality is now able to connect to the stationary core).The disconnected radio link [216] is restored and the relay radiomanager [211] relays communication data back to the core network[200,201,202].

On each relay node, the sibling nodes are stored e.g. in a local tablein the Routing agent. Each mobile station [229, 234, 242] associates itsdata streams with a bearer. Each bearer is typically associated with atraffic filter template (TFT) that includes the bearer's source address,designated node address and an optional addition of source, destinationport and protocol. Typically, each bearer is uniquely marked with aTunnel ID (TID). In the example illustrated in FIG. 9c , mobile station[242] connects to mobile station [229] e.g. using a voice over IP (VoIP)application. On a hop by hop basis, each relay node inspects the bearerestablishing procedure and is operative to store a sibling node and itsassociated TID. In case of a disconnection [236] from the core[200,201,202] the relay resource manager (rRM) [231] functionality inthe relay which resides at the head of the tree (i.e. but not limited tothe relay closest to the disconnected core) is operative to locallyroute communication between designated nodes that are in thedisconnected nodes' cluster or optionally additionally to provideservices to mobile station/s in its topology tree. So, in theillustrated example, mobile station [229, 234, 242] are camped to thedisconnected nodes' cluster (group of relays that are inter-connected)of relay nodes [RN1,RN2]. The relay resource manager (rRM) [231]functionality of RN1 (RN=RELAY NODE=RELAY) which resides at the top ofthe tree routes the communication between mobile station [229] andmobile station [242]. Furthermore, because the communication is based onGPRS tunneling, the relay resource manager (rRM) [231] can alter eachtunnel, so that it can enable to communicate with the source and thedestination of the tunnel, e.g. by creating an alternative using a GTP-Cstandard [e.g. 3GPP TS 29.274] tunnel by sending a create packet dataprotocol (PDP) context, Create Bearer Request to its collocated core.When an undo emergency event is received, the relay resource manager(rRM) [231] can use the same mechanism. So, the relay resource manager(rRM) may be operative for creating an alternative using a GTP-Cstandard [e.g. 3GPP TS 29.274] tunnel by sending a create packet dataprotocol (PDP) context,) to alter the local (emergency-mode) tunnels tothe original tunnels (normal-mode).

It is appreciated that in case of an emergency event the relay locatedat the root (head) of the topology tree (e.g. the relay which firstcaught the event or the node closest to the core) enables a local EPCcore (simulated core network/Stand-alone subsystem) and functionallyreplaces the stationary or remote-simulated core [FIG. 9c , 220,221,222]. All other relay nodes in the topology tree and their connectedmobile stations are seamless to the disconnection (e.g. if no connectionis to be established with any entity outside the topology tree). Thedisconnection may also be indicated by informing idle mode mobilestations (MSs) e.g. by changing a public land mobile network (PLMN) IDto another public land mobile network (PLMN) and broadcasting the ID toall Base station functionalities (TeNb) in the cluster. The public landmobile network (PLMN) may also indicate relevant information such as theID of the head relay and the number relay in the cluster. It isappreciated that the term EPC refers to an all-IP mobile core networkfor LTE communication.

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of an example architecture for therelay resource manager (rRM) of MR. The terms “stand-alone subsystem”,“simulated stationary network”, “core functionality”, mini-core andsimulated core are used herein interchangeably.

As shown, the relay resource manager comprises some or all of: aTunneling subsystem [713], Radio Resource subsystem [714] Virtual coresubsystem [715], internal router service application [743], Stand-AloneSubsystem [716] and Routing and QoS Subsystem [728], suitably couplede.g. as shown.

The tunneling subsystem is operative for encapsulating andde-capsulating of user plane and control plane payloads over user planebearers according to different priorities and sending the de-capsulateduser plane and control plane payloads to entities in the core such asbut not limited to any of: mobility management entity e.g. MME,gateways, and application servers. The tunneling subsystem typicallyinterfaces [703, 704] with the mobile station functionality rUE [741]e.g. over a standard IP stack.

The Virtual core subsystem typically constitutes the gateway between thecore (stationary) on the one hand, and various resource managementsubsystems and the base station functionality rBS [740′] on the otherhand. The Virtual core subsystem may communicate with the base stationfunctionality rBS [740′] or core (of the static network) e.g. usingstandard S1-MME [702,708 b,709,710] and S1-U [701,707 b,709,710′] orproprietary management and control (M&C) over IP interface [701,707b,709,710′] with the base station functionality rBS [740′] and remotecore. The Virtual core subsystem may send all or any of the S1-MME,S1-U, M&C messages to the core optionally through the TunnelingSubsystem [713].

The Encapsulation manager function of the Virtual core subsystem [715]implements a Network event listener e.g. as illustrated in FIG. 6 atreference numeral 1304 and a Network event handler e.g. as illustratedin FIG. 6 at reference numeral 1305]. The handler may use deep packetinspection techniques in order to maintain suitable statistics (such asbut not limited to any or all of: all active bearers including sourceand destination addresses, ports, and priorities) The handler may alsoraise events (for example in case of a disconnection from the core). Theencapsulation manager is also operative for handling (send/receive)different messages that are sent/received [712] by the Routing and QoSSubsystem to/from the core being used, for example messages to create ordelete a bearer.

In addition, the Encapsulation manager function of the Virtual coresubsystem [715] may optionally include functionality for exchanginginformation between the relay resource manager rRM that the Virtual coresubsystem resides within [742] and: (1) another relay resource managerlocated inside another relay, and/or (2) Relay/s Server located as partof the static network. The Virtual S-GW [722] and Virtual MME [723] mayhave corresponding standard S-GW and MME interfaces with the basestation functionality rBS [740′] accordingly. If a remote core is usedby the relay, the Virtual S-GW [722] and Virtual MME [723] may emulatethese core functions as proxies so that the base station functionalityrBS [740′] works smoothly and seamlessly despite remoteness of the core.

The Routing & QoS subsystem [728] may comprise some or all of a routingagent [727], Load manager [729] and QoS Agent [730′]. Routing & QoSsubsystem [728] communicates with the mobile station functionality (rMS)[741] e.g. using AT Commands or any suitable proprietary interface[705]. Routing & QoS subsystem [728] communicates with the base stationfunctionality rBS e.g. using the M&C interface [735]. Using the M&Cinterface the Routing and QOS subsystem may command a change in variousparameters in the base station functionality rBS [740′] such as PLMN,and/or may command the base station functionality rBS [740′] to initiatea handover mechanism of an attached mobile station. Using the mobilestation functionality (rMS) [741] interface [705] the Routing and QoSsubsystem [728] may receive radio measurements of served base stationsor neighboring base stations, and may send fake radio measurements tothe mobile station functionality (rMS) [741] that the mobile stationfunctionality may send to its serving base station in order to intervenewith the handover mechanism. Routing and QoS subsystem [728] mayregister to specific access point names (APN) and/or create additionalbearers.

The Load manager [729] is operative for balancing traffic loads betweendifferent relays. Load manager [729] may perform actions such as but notlimited to: indicating other relay resource manager elements such as butnot limited to any or all of: Radio Resource Subsystem [714], Routingagent [727], QoS agent [730′] or Encapsulation manager (block of theVirtual Core Subsystem [715]) or mobile station functionality [741] orbase station functionality rBS [740′] or mobility management entity MMEof remote core (of the static network or) that which current siteloaded. Load manager [729] may also command the routing agent to try tochange topology in order to gain more bandwidth (at the backhaulinglink), or to request that additional bandwidth be assigned to the mobilestation functionality (rMS) for the backhauling link from the mobilitymanagement entity MME of remote core.

The QOS agent [730′] is operative for creating bearers according to thecurrent attached mobile stations and their bandwidth requests in casethere is a need for a additional bearer due to the multi-hop mechanism.

The Radio Resource Subsystem [714] may comprise some or all of: Radioresource manager [724], Radio Quality and Arena Reporter [725′] andRadio Resource Controller [726]. The radio resource subsystem [714] isoperative for reducing interference between: (1) relay's access linkswhich may be sent and received by the base station functionality rBS[740′]) and relay's backhauling links which may be sent and received bythe rUE (rMS) [740]; (2) relay's access links and other relays' accesslinks; and (3) relay backhauling links and other relays' backhaulinglinks. The Radio resource controller [726] is operative for controllingdifferent radio resources of the mobile station functionality rUE [741]and of base station functionality rBS [740′] e.g some or all of: lowerbase station functionality transmission power, blanking particular basestation functionality resource blocks/subframe/s, request for mobilestation functionality uplink grant, changing center frequency, changingbandwidth.

The Radio Quality and Arena Reporter [725′] may be operative forgathering a radio measurement report indicating received power reportsof the base station functionality rBS [740′] and base stationfunctionality rBS's neighboring base stations from the connected mobilestations reporting to the base station functionality rBS [740′] and fromthe mobile station functionality rUE [741]. The radio measurement reportmay indicate one or more of: the mobile station functionality's servingbase station's radio measurements; and/or radio measurements of mobilestation functionality rUE [741]'s active set, e.g. list of neighboringbase stations that mobile station functionality rUE [741] is operativeto measure periodically. The Radio Resource Subsystem sends themeasurement report through the interface to the Virtual Core subsystem[742], typically using the encapsulation manager, to radio resourcesubsystems of other relays' relay resource managers as a radio qualityreport. This radio quality report may be relevant for distributed radioresource management mechanisms and/or for decisions relevant to therouting agent.

The radio resource manager may receive radio quality reports from theradio resource manager's local Radio quality and arena reporter [725′]and from neighboring relays' Radio quality and arena reporters. Theradio resource manager may compute the level of interference between thevarious stations, e.g. of relays and optionally of the static network.The radio resource manager may also provide radio resource configurationrecommendations to its local radio resource controller [726] and/or toits neighboring relays' radio resource controller/s through interface[742] and using the encapsulation manager of the Virtual core subsystem[715].

The Radio resource manager [714] can optionally communicate in interface[706] e.g. using AT Commands or other proprietary protocol with themobile station functionality rUE [741]. The Radio resource manager canfurther optionally communicate in interface [734] e.g. using M&Cprotocol with the base station functionality rBS [740′]. The Radioresource manager can further optionally communicate with other relays'radio resource subsystems through interface [742] e.g. using the virtualcore subsystem [715] Encapsulation manager.

The Stand-alone subsystem [716], also termed herein the Simulated corenetwork, is responsible for core packet switching & handling and for IPservices. The Stand-alone subsystem [716] may serve as a local core alsotermed herein a mini-core since it may have less functionality than thestatic core does. Stand-alone subsystem [716] may also be operative forgiving local services, such as local storage of maps and/or being avoice call server or/and SIP server and/or video server and/or gamingserver, e.g. through the IP services function [719], in the event ofhandoff e.g. when the relay disconnects from the remote core (eitherstatic or part of other relay rRM) from the serving core. If suchhandoff occurs, the virtual core subsystem [715] may recreate allrelevant PDP contexts and bearers according to the information stored onthe virtual core subsystem's [715] encapsulation manager and switch thepacket data to the local stand-alone subsystem [716]. When the localStand-alone subsystem is used as an active core, and there is a need ina given situation, to re-use the remote core instead of the local core,a reverse process performed.

Tunneling Subsystem [713], Routing & QoS Subsystem [728] and RadioResource Subsystem [714] are optional subsystems of the relay resourcemanager (rRM). All or any subset of these subsystems can be added to therelay resource manager (rRM) as per need.

The router service application [743] can be added to the relay to enableit to do extended tunnels for multi-hop encapsulation. According tocertain embodiments, one mobile station is connected to a corefunctionality of the relay resource manager and another mobile stationis connected to the core element of the static network, and there is alink between these cores.

If a mobile station that is attached to a stationary base station oreven a standard phone communicates with a mobile station that isattached to the core through several relays e.g. as depicted in FIG. 8,the mobile station attached to a stationary base station may connecte.g. using conventional interfaces to the P-GW and from there by hoppingthrough [164] the static base station SeNB [167], the first relay nodeTUE[155], relay resource manager rRM [163] and base stationfunctionality TeNB [156]. The second relay's mobile stationfunctionality TUE [157], the relay resource manager rRM [159] and thebase station functionality TeNB [158] are typically able to communicatewith the mobile station [150].

Any suitable IP connectivity gateway may be used herein, not beinglimited to what is specifically shown and described herein, such as butnot limited to one of: an IP-connectivity GW in LTE; one of a P-Gateway,S-Gateway, P/S-Gateway and Access-Gateway; in 3G GGSN, an SGSN, inWiMAX, an ASN-Gateway in CSN;

Any suitable mobility management entity may be used herein, not beinglimited to what is specifically shown and described herein, such as butnot limited to one of: an LTE MME, a 3G RNC, and a WiMAX ASN.

The router service application [743] can be implemented as a softwareapplication, or alternatively as a hardware router.

Note that the invention is not bound to the specified aspects andembodiments and accordingly any combination thereof is also applicable.

The invention likewise is directed to various counterpart methodembodiments and aspects, mutatis mutandis.

The invention likewise is directed to a computer storage medium forstoring computer code portions for performing the method stages.

The present invention has been described with certain degree ofparticularity, but those versed in the art will readily appreciate thatvarious alterations and modifications may be carried out withoutdeparting from the scope of the following Claims.

1-33. (canceled)
 34. A cellular system comprising: at least one movingrelay (MR) comprising a base station, configured to provide cellularcommunication between at least two mobile stations in a geographic areathat lacks adequate cellular coverage by at least one stationary basestation, the cellular system configured to perform the following: a)receive information indicative of the location of at least one MS of theat least two mobile stations; b) receive information indicative of thelocation of the at least one MR; c) determine whether or not a change inthe location of the at least one MR is needed, the determination beingbased at least on the information indicative of the location of the atleast one MS and the information indicative of the location of the atleast one MR; d) in response to determining that the change in thelocation is required, performing the following: (i) calculate a newdesired location of the at least one MR, based at least on theinformation indicative of the location of the at least one MS and theinformation indicative of the location of the at least one MR, thelocation of the at least one MR to constitute a previous location of theat least one MR; and (ii) send an instruction to the at least one MR tomove to the new desired location, thereby enabling movement of the atleast one MR to the new desired location, thereby enabling providing ofimproved service to the at least one MS, as compared to a previousservice provided when of the at least one MR located at the previouslocation.
 35. The cellular system of claim 34, wherein the improvedservice comprises at least support of a higher date rate.
 36. Thecellular system of claim 34, further comprising repeating said steps (a)to (d) at least once.
 37. The cellular system of claim 34, wherein thereceiving information indicative of the location of the at least one MScomprises at least one of: receiving the information from the at leastone MR, the at least one MR equipped with an antenna that can supportestimation of direction-of-arrival of the at least one MS; receiving GPSinformation associated with the at least one MS; utilizing 3GPP standardpositioning capabilities; receiving the information from an externalsystem.
 38. The cellular system of claim 34, further comprising at leastone neighboring MR, wherein said step b) further comprising receiveinformation indicative of the location of the at least one neighboringMR, wherein said steps (c) and (d)(i) are performed at least partlybased on the information indicative of the location of the at least oneneighboring MR.
 39. The cellular system of claim 34, wherein said steps(a) to (d) being performed at a central location, wherein the at leastone MR comprising an MR that is other than the central location.
 40. Thecellular system of claim 34, wherein the sending of the instruction tothe at least one MR utilizes at least one of: cellular systemcommunication links to a mobile station comprised in the at least oneMR; WI-FI; satellite communications; a microwave link.
 41. The cellularsystem of claim 34, wherein said steps (a) to (d) being performed in theat least one MR, wherein said step (d) further comprises: (iii) moveautonomously to the new desired location.
 42. The cellular system ofclaim 41, wherein said step (d) further comprises: (iv) send informationto the at least one neighboring MR, the information comprising at leastone of: the information indicative of the location of the at least oneMR; the new desired location of the at least one MR; the informationindicative of the location of the at least one MS; the informationindicative of the location of the at least one neighboring MR.
 43. Thecellular system of claim 34, further comprising performing, prior tosaid step (a), the following: e) detect at least one new MS, not alreadyserved by any MR of the at least one MR; and f) set the at least one MSto comprise the at least one new MS.
 44. The cellular system of claim43, further comprising an airborne MR, wherein the detection of the atleast one new MS utilizes the airborne MR, the airborne MR having afirst coverage area wider compared to a second coverage area associatedwith a ground MR.
 45. The cellular system of claim 34, wherein said stepa) further comprises receiving additional information, comprising atleast one of: a required application associated with the at least oneMS; a quality of service; antenna type associated with the at least oneMS; antenna performance associated with the at least one MS; maximaltransmitted power associated with the at least one MS; physicalconstraints of motion of the at least one MR, wherein said steps d) ande)(i) are performed at least partly based on the additional information.46. The cellular system of claim 34, wherein the at least one MR iscarried by a moving autonomous platform from a group that includesground robot, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned seaborne vessel.47. The cellular system of claim 34, wherein said cellular communicationis configured to support applications including at least one of audio,video, messaging and data.
 48. The cellular system of claim 34, operablein 4G standard.
 49. The cellular system of claim 34, operable in 3Gstandard.
 50. The cellular system of claim 34, operable in WiMAXstandard.